Has anyone else noted the phenomenon of the Nijinsky II eye? I’ve been aware of it for years now, and was reminded of it when Simply Breathless got her close-up in the paddock at Santa Anita as she awaited her photo op in the winners’ circle after the Wilshire S.-G3, a stunning upset for a truly gorgeous mare. Simply Breathless was bred in Great Britain, and I was unfamiliar with her pedigree, though aware of the brilliant campaign her trainer, Neil Drysdale, had planned for her since her importation. Then I saw that eye.

Her left eye was completely white-rimmed around the iris, giving her a slightly mad, bad and dangerous to know appearance, though her body language was cool and calm. I instantly thought: Nijinsky. I’ve owned a Seattle Dancer mare and a Royal Academy mare who both had that Nijinsky eye, and started observing it at sales as well. Nijinsky doesn’t have to be as close up in the pedigree as he was in the two mares I’ve owned with his blood; from what I’ve noticed, Nijinsky’s influence anywhere in the first six generations can cause that remarkable, crazy-looking eye to appear.

Simply Breathless is a product, in her sireline, of Juddmonte breeding, as Bated Breath, her sire, is by Dansili, and features all of the goodies inherent in stellar Juddmonte planning, such as Danehill, Irish River, Blushing Groom, Mr. Prospector and Danzig again, not to mention the tail female Blue Hen Monroe. It should be noted that her dams’ side features another dose of Danzig, through his wonderful but almost hopefully infertile son Lure, and more Mr. P through Gulch.

But look a little closer. Dansili is out of Hasili, by Kahyasi, a son of Ile de Bourbon. Ile de Bourbon’s dad? None other than Nijinsky II. I wish I could consult with Mendel on the genetics of this, as for me it is only observation rather than science. But there it is. And I love the Nijinsky eye, and the insane look it gives to mares. I’ve not observed this in stallions with Nijinsky in their blood, so perhaps, like the big heart gene, it can only be passed on to female offspring. Anyone else noticed this?

-- Roberta Smoodin